Kiln feed mechanism



May 7, 1935. c. R. BlRDsL-:Y

KILN FEED MECHANISM Filed Nov. 30, 1928.

4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR m O/F//a/B//QDSEX ATTORNEY GDODDDBDDB DooDzDDDon May 7, 1935.

Filed NOV. 30, 1928 c. R. BIRDsl-:Y

KILN FEED MECHANTSM 4 sheets-snet 2 May 7, 1935. c. R. BIRDSEY 2,000,272

2 KILN FEED MECHANISM l Filed Nov. 30, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR CHQ/2155 l?. B/,QDSEY ATTORNEY l May 7, 1935' c. R. BIRDSEY l 2,000,272

KILN FEED MECHANI SM Filed Nov. 5o, 19128 4 sheets-sheet 4 INVENTOR CHH/QLE/'TB/RDsEx ATTORNEY Patented May 7, 1935 A I UNITED STATES PATENT oFEicE KILN FEED MECHANISM Charles R. Birdsey, Pasadena, Calif., assignor to United States Gypsum Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application November 30, 1928, Serial No. 322,610

18 Claims. (Cl. 198-21) This invention relates to kiln feed mechanismsV the upper ends of said roller conveyors being arand has reference more particularly to a mecharanged substantially in the arc of a circle. A tiltnism for feeding plaster board, or the like into ing frame roller conveyor I2 is provided at one multi-dek k11ns end with a pivot shaft I3 which is secured on suit- In kilns of the multideck roller type for the able frame work I4 so that the free end of said e 5 drying of plaster board, wall board, fiber board, conveyor I2 swings near the upper ends of conand other fabricated boards, it is necessary to proveyors I I. vide a setting conveyor preferably arranged above A setting conveyor l5 iS arranged preferably the drying kiln and to reverse the direction of above the kiln I0, the lower end I6 of setting lo movement of the plaster board after leaving the conveyor being positioned Substantially above the 10 setting conveyor so as to direct same into the dry- DiVOt Din |3- An inclined reVerSing Conveyor Il ing k11n In erder te feed plaster boards inte is arranged with the lower end somewhat below successive decks of the drying kiln, it is desirable the lower end I 6 of the Setting Conveyor I5 So to have a tilting frame roller conveyor which can 8S to receive the plaster boards I3 aS they ere is be tilted to the different deck levels of the kiln. delivered from the Setting conveyor and reverse 15 A simple mechanism is necessary to operate the the direction of movement of said plaster boards. tilting frame roller conveyor so as to properly The lower-most roller I9 of the reversing conadjust same to a predetermined deck of the dryveyor Il, is secured to a rotatably mounted shaft ing kiln, y 20 and a pulley 2I is also secured to said shaft.

An object of this invention, therefore, is to pro- The rollers 22 of the Setting conveyor l5 are e150 20 vide a simple mechanism for operating the tilting Secured on ShaftS 23 Which are provided With frame roller conveyor which directs the plaster pulleys 24 connected by belts 25. A drive shaft board into successive decks of the drying kiln.- 26, driven by any Suitable source of power not Another object of the invention is to provide shown, is provided With a pulley 2l Which iS 25 a mechanism, preferably including a cam, for Connected by a belt 28 to a pulley 29 associated 25 operating the tilting frame roller conveyor; also With the lower-most roller of the Setting Conto improve kiln feed mechanisms in other reveyor I5. The belt 28 also engages the pulley 2| spects hereinafter specified and claimed. and causes the rotation of rollers I9 in a counter- Reference is to be had to the accompanying Clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 7. Thus, when 30 drawings forming a part of this specification, in the rear end of the plaster board I6 falls 'from 30 which the lower-most roller of setting conveyor I5, it Fig 1 is a general diagrammatic view of my imfalls onto the positively driven roller I9 which proved kiln feed mechanism applied to the kiln, quickly reverses the direction of movement :of Fig. 2 is an elevation of my improved kiln feed the plaster board I8 and conveys same forwardly mechanism, onto tlltingconveyor I2. Several of the rollers 35 Fig.3isafragmentary plan view of the kiln feed of tilting conveyor I2 may be provided -`with mechanism, pulleys 30 connected by belt 3| so asto cause Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of the feed mechathe movement of the plaster board along the tiltnism, ing conveyor- I'I at a definite speed regardless 40 Fig. 5 isaplan detail view of the control switch, of the angle of inclination of same. The belts 40 i Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the control switch, -3I are driven by suitable belts 32 and 33 which and connect with a motor 34 through countershaft 35. Fig. 7 is a fragmentary elevation on a large The motor 34 is preferably secured directly to scale of a portion of the tilting frame roller conthe free end of tilting conveyor I2 and moves veyor. with same. 45 A drying kiln Il) may have any number of decks The tilting conveyor I2 is preferably provided such as I0 as shown in Fig. 1 and these decks or with an ear 36 which is connected by a cable 3l roller'conveyors will be designated A, B, C, D, E, to a counterweight 38, the cable 3l passing over F, G, H, I, J. In order to obtain a large capacity, a pulley 39 positioned above said tilting frame two drying kilns are arranged side by side as seen I2 so that the weight of the tilting frame con- 50 in Figs. 3 and 4 and two kiln feed mechanisms veyor is counterbalanced at all positions. A are provided which are substantially identical in roller 40 is rotatably mounted in a suitable bracket every respect so that a description of one will 4I secured to the lower side of tilting conveyor apply to both. Leading to the decks of the kiln frame I2, a pair of said rollers 40 being provided I0. are a series of inclined roller conveyors II, for the tuting frame. The rollers 40 engage the 55 outer periphery of a pair of cams 42. The cams 42 are secured to a shaft 48 and are provided with a series of progressively varying high points 44 which are so arranged as to position the free end of tilting conveyor I2 at the various decks of the drying kiln as the shaft 43 is intermittently rotated by a mechanism to be hereinafter described. The high points 44 of the cam 42 are about equal in number on each side of the point 0f maximum radius so that boards are fed into alternate decks of the kiln on both the upward and downward movement of the conveyor I2, the decks skipped on the upward movement being fed on the downward movement of the conveyor, thus insuring a smooth operation of the feeding mechanism,

A switch arm 46 is pivotally mounted on pivot pin 41, the latter being secured to a bracket 48 which is mounted on the tilting frame I2. A stop arm 49 is formed on the switch arm 46, said stop arm being adapted to engage the bracket 48 and limit the rotation of the switch arm about pin 41 in a clock-wise direction as seen in Fig. 6. A fixed pin 56 in the bracket 48 engages a slot 5| formed in the stop arm 46 so as to limit the movement of said stop arm in a counter-clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 6. Mounted upon the switch arm 46 is a glass tube 52 which contains a globule of mercury 53. Electrical c onnectors 54 lead from one end of the tubeA 52 so that when the switch arm is actuated by a plaster board traveling along the tilting frame I2, to its extreme position as shown in the dotand-dash lines of Fig. 6, the globule of mercury 53 closes the circuit formed by the electrical connectors 54 thus operating a clutch 55 by'means oi' a mechanism which will be more fully described.

The electrical connectors 54 lead to a solenoid 56 which is connected by a rod 51 to the free end of an arcuate shaped catch lever 58. The free end of catch lever 58 is resiliently pressed against the lower step 59 of rod 51 by means of a spring 66 secured to a bracket 6I. The bracket 6I has a pivot pin 62 secured to the upper end thereof, said pivot pin serving to rotatably mount one end of the catch lever 58. A catch 63 is pivotally mounted at its lowerend on a pivot pin 64 which is secured to the bracket 6I, the upper end of said catch normally engaging behind a catch shoulder 65 formed on the catch lever 56. A bellcrank spring lever 66 is pivotally mounted on pivot pin 61 secured to the bracket 6| and the free end of lever 66 is pivotally connected to a rod 66 which extends into a spring cylinder 69, the latter containing a compression spring not shown engaged by a piston on the end of rod A68. 'Ihe lower end of spring cylinder 68 may be connected in any suitable way to a rigid support such as by a turnbuckle rod 10 secured-to the frame work I4.

The clock-wise movement of the spring lever 68 is limited by a stop lug 1I. The opposite arm 12 of bell crank lever 66 is forked so as to enclose a clutch collar 13 provided adjacent the clutch 55. A spring 14 is also provided adjacent the clutch 55 so as to normally hold said clutch in inoperative position unless actuated by the lever arm 12. An arcuate shaped link 15 pivotally connects the catch 63 with the bell crank lever 66 so that the catch 63 follows the movement of the bell crank lever 66. A roller 16 is rotatably mounted on the lower side of the bell crank lever 66, said roller being adapted to engage a cam 11 secured to a shaft 16 on which theclutch 55 is mounted. Thus, for every complete revolution of shaft 18, the cam 11 will engage the roller 18 and restore catch 68 to its normal position behind shoulder 65. A motor 16 is connected by a belt to a pulley 8| on a worm shaft 82. The worm wheel not shown meshing with a worm 88, is secured on a sleeve 84, the latter being rotatably mounted on the shaft 18 and engaging certain plates in the clutch 55. The shaft 18 is connected by a coupling to a worm shaft 86, the latter carrying a worm 81 which meshes with a worm gear 88 secured to shaft 48 so as to accomplish the intermittent rotation of the shaft 48.

In operation, the plaster boards move down the inclined setting conveyor I5 and slide on to the reversing conveyor I1, the rear edge of each plaster board droppingv onto driven roller I8 which reverses the direction of movement of the plaster board and moves same onto the tilting conveyor I2. The tilting conveyor I2 is rocked about the pivot I8 by means of cam 42 engaging roller 40, the cam 42 being rotated intermittently to accomplish the rocking movement of said tilting conveyor. Some of the rollers of tilting conveyor I2 are positively driven by motor 84 operating through belt 33, countershaft 35 and belt 82. The rotation of the cam 42 rocks the tilting conveyor I2 to successive decks of the inclined roller conveyors I I which lead to the corresponding decks on the drying kiln I0.

As the plaster boards move down the tilting conveyor I2, the forward edge cf each board engages the switch arm 46 which moves said switch in a counter-clock-wise direction about a pivot 41 as seen in Fig. 6 so that the mercury globule 53 closes the circuit formed by electrical connectors 54 to cause the actuation of solenoid 56 and the upward movement of rod 51 and catch lever 56 to disengage the catch 63 from shoulder 65. After the release of the catch 83 the lever 66 moves downwardly under the action of a spring in the spring cylinder 68 so that lever arm 12 engages the clutch 55 thus causing the rotation of shaft 18 through one revolution. The cam 11 engages the roller 16 for each revolution of shaft 16, thus causing the lever 66 to move upwardly until catch 63 is restored to normal position behind the shoulder 65. The shaft 16 is driven by motor 19 operating through belt 80, pulley 8|, and worm 83 on worm shaft 82. The Worm 83 engages a worm wheel on sleeve 84 which is secured to plates in the clutch 55. The shaft 16 also is connected to a worm shaft 86 having a worm 81 meshing with a worm wheel 88 on shaft 48.

I would state in conclusion that while the illustrated example constitutes a practical embodiment of my invention, I do not wish to limit myself precisely to these details, since manifestly the same can be considerably, varied without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:-

1. In a kiln feed mechanism, a multi-deck drying kiln, a tilting conveyor pivotally mounted to deliver sheets of material to the decks of said drying kiln, cam means associated with said tilting conveyor, and means for rotating said cam with an intermittent movement controlled by the movement of said sheets of material.

2. In a kiln feed mechanism, the multi-deck drying kiln, a pivotally mounted tilting frame associated with said drying kiln adapted to deliver sheetsof material to the decks of said drying kiln, means for intermittently rocking said tilting frame about the pivot thereof. and electrical means controlled by the movement of said sheets of material for vcontrolling the rocking of said tilting frame.

3. In a kiln feed mechanism, a multi-deck drying kiln, a tilting conveyor pivotally associated with said drying kiln, a. cam movably associated with said tilting conveyor, a clutch, and an electrical switch arm lying in the path of travel of sheets of material passing along said tilting conveyor and adapted to be actuated thereby so as to intermittently actuate said clutch and cause the intermittent rocking of said tilting conveyor` to4 deliver said sheets of material to the decks in said drying kiln.

4. In a kiln feed mechanism, a multi-deck drying kiln, a tilting conveyor pivotally associated with said drying kiln, rollers on said tilting conveyor, a motor secured to said tilting conveyor and adapted to rock with said conveyor, driving means connecting said motor and a roller and adapted to cause the continuous rotation of said roller so as to cause a uniform movement of plaster boards along the tilting conveyor regardless of the inclination thereof, and means for rocking said tilting conveyor with an intermittentfmovement so as to deliver said plaster boards to the decks of said drying kiln.

5. In a kiln feed mechanism, a multi-deck drying kiln, a tilting conveyor pivotally associated with said kiln, an electric switch adapted to be actuated. by plaster boards moving along said conveyor, and means associated with said switch for causingthe intermittent rocking of the tilting conveyor so as to deliver plaster boards to the decks of said multi-deck kiln.

6. In a kiln feed mechanism, a multi-deck drying kiln, a tilting conveyor pivotally associated with said drying kiln, a switch arm associated with said tilting conveyor and lying in the path oi' travel of sheets of material passing along said conveyor, a solenoid, and means associatedv with said switch arm and solenoid for causing the intermittent rocking of said tilting conveyor so as to deliver plaster boards to the decks of said kiln.

7. In a kiln feed mechanlsm, a multi-deck drying kiln, a tilting conveyor pivotallyV associated with said drying kiln, a cam having a plurality of high points around the periphery thereof, means for intermittently rotating said cam so as to cause the intermittent rocking of said tilting conveyor to predetermined positions relative to the decks of said drying kiln, and electrical control means adapted to be actuated by the movement of sheet material along said tilting conveyor so as to control the intermittent movement of said cam.

8. In a kiln feed mechanism, a multi-deck drying kiln, a pivotally mounted tilting conveyor associated with said drying kiln, a rotatably mounted shaft associated with said tilting conveyor, a clutch, a lever adapted to be intermittently actuated so as to engage said clutch and cause the intermittent rotation of said shaft and the intermittent rocking of said tilting conveyor, and a cam associated with said shaft and adapted to restore said lever to normal position after each actuation of said shaft.

9. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination with a multi-deck drying kiln, a setting conveyor for plaster boards, an inclined conveyor adapted to receive plaster boards from said setting conveyor, a pivotally mounted tilting conveyor adapted to receive the plaster boards from said inclined conveyor, and means for intermittently rocking the tilting conveyor about the pivot thereof so that said plaster boards are delivered to the decks of said drying kiln, of a. continuously driven roller associated with said inclined conveyor, said roller being adapted to receive the plaster boards from said setting conveyor and reverse the direction of movement of said plaster boards.

10. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination with a setting conveyor, an inclined conveyor adapted to receive plaster boards from said setting conveyor. a tilting conveyor adapted to receive the plaster board from said inclined conveyor, a drying kiln having superposed decks, said tilting conveyor being adapted to deliver plaster boards'to the decks of said drying kiln, of a continuously driven roller associated with said inclined conveyor and adapted to move said plaster boards from said inclined conveyor to said tilting conveyor.

11. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination with a multi-decked drying kiln, a tilting 'conveyor pivotally associated with said drying kiln, and an inclined conveyorassoclated with said tilting conveyor and adapted to receive plaster boards moving in one direction, of cam means associated with said tilting conveyor adapted to cause the intermittent rocking of said tilting conveyor so as to deliver'plaster boards to the decks of the drying kiln, and a continuously driven roller associated with said inclined conveyor and adapted to receive said plaster boards and reverse the direction of movement of said plaster boards so that said plaster` boards are moved onto said tilting conveyor.

l2. In a kiln feed mechanism for plaster boards, a multi-deck drying kiln, a pivotally mounted tilting frame associated with said drying kiln and adapted to rock in a vertical plane and deliver sheets oi' board to the decks of said drying kiln, means for intermittently rocking said tilting frame about the pivot thereof, and means controlled by the movement of said board for controlling the rocking of said tilting frame.

13. In a kiln feed mechanism for fabricated boards, a multi-deck drying kiln, a pivotally mounted tilting frame associated with said drying kiln, adapted to rock in a veritcal plane and deliver sheets of board to different decks of said drying kiln, a cam for rocking said tilting frame about the pivot thereof, and means for rotating said cam intermittently to permit discharge of a board from the tilting conveyor during a dwell in the rotation of said cam.

14. In a kiln feed mechanism for fabricated boards, a multi-deck drying kiln, a tilting conveyor adapted to be progressively moved in a vertical plane into proximity with selected decks of said drying kiln, and a cam for automatically moving said conveyor into proximity with different decks of said kiln, said cam being so designed as to feed alternate decks of said kiln on both the upward and downward movements of said conveyor.

15. In a kiln feed mechanism for fabricated boards, a multi-deck drying kiln, a conveyor frame pivoted at one end and adapted to rock in a vertical plane and deliver boards to the decks of said drying kiln, means for counterweighting frame pivotally mounted adjacent said setting conveyor adapted to receive plaster boards from said setting conveyor, and means actuated by the plaster boards for moving said conveyor frame on the pivot thereof in order to deliver plaster boards to successive decks in said drying kiln in a predetermined sequence.

17. In a machine for the manufacture of plaster boards, a setting conveyor, a movable conveyor frame adapted to receive a plaster board lfrom said setting conveyor, a drying kiln having a plurality of conveyor decks, a clutch operatively connected to said movable frame, and means automatically actuated by the movement of the plaster boards for actuating said clutch at predetermined intervals, thus causing the movable conveyor frame to deliver plaster boards to successive decks of said drying kiln.

18. In a machine for the manufacture'of plaster boards, the combination with a drying kiln, of a setting conveyor, a movable conveyor frame associated with said setting conveyor, means for transferring plaster boards from said setting conveyor to said movable conveyor frame, driving means, a clutch associated with said driving means and operatively connected to said movable frame, and automatic means for actuating said clutch at predetermined intervals so as to cause said conveyor trame to deliver a plaster board to a predetermined deck of said drying kiln.

CHARLES R. BIRDSEY. 

